salary counteroffers – Equal Pay Negotiations

I’m a big fan of Google Alerts. I have them set up for multiple topics including salary negotiation. This helps me to see developments in the topic. Most of the time, I find myself adding to my knowledge base. Once in a while, I find myself wondering how people can make such recommendations.

A case in point is a recent article in the International Business Times Blogs. The title of the article is very accurate – “Always Attempt a Salary Negotiation.” I heartily agree which is why I started my blog. The article references some great research about negotiating. It’s the recommended low-risk strategy that gives me concern.

“If nothing else, we suggest a low-risk strategy of saying,

“Thank you, I accept the job offer…but I wonder if there’s any room on salary?”

To me this is a classic “putting the cart before the horse” situation. You are no longer negotiating once you accept the job. You may be requesting, begging, or pleading but it definitely is not negotiating.

Let me explain why. During the interview process both the candidate and the hiring manager is considering whether or not the two of you make the best fit. The norm is that the hiring manager decides first if the candidate meets the company’s need. When the decision is in the positive, the job offer with salary is the first indication of that decision. At that very moment, you (the candidate) now know the hiring manager’s decision and your own. That’s one up to the hiring manager who does not know your decision. If knowledge is power than you just became the more powerful person. The moment you accept the job the power shifts away from you.

Consider the purpose of negotiations. It’s a means for two or more parties to make an equitable exchange. A job candidate has knowledge and abilities that a company wants. A company has pay, benefits, and security that a candidate wants. The negotiation is a process to decide how much salary, benefits, and security the company needs to exchange for a particular candidate’s knowledge and talent. Once the candidate says yes, the company has their answer and they no longer need to negotiate.

My recommended low-risk negotiation opening is stating something closer to these words. “Thank you for the offer. I need to consider it before giving you my decision however, one thing that strikes me right away is that the salary is lower than I expected.”

So, yes always negotiate salary but please don’t start the negotiation after you accept the job. Start with the negotiation and you will be more successful at getting a higher salary than the original offer.

We are not used to quiet. Your cell phone rings and chirps with calls, emails, texts, and social media updates. Your office is a constant whir of people tapping on their keyboard, conversations, and the hum of the ever so pretty fluorescent lights. Your home has the fridge running, the washing machine churning, the dishing washer scrubbing, the t.v. blasting a show or a game, and the tapping of keyboards as family members do homework, connect with friends, or watch cats doing oh-so-cute-things while teenage boys are doing oh-so-stupid-things. When you think about it there are very few moments in our life that truly are completely silent. I would say sleep but so many people fall asleep with the t.v. or radio on that even during sleep we have chosen to have noise sound us. That is why this critical step to negotiating is so difficult for so many people but with practice it can be done.

The step is to be silent, hush up, or SHUT UP! When you are asking someone to do more or to do things differently you need to give them time to catch up and consider you comments. I can’t tell you how many times I have been on a business call that people ask me if I’m still on the call just because there is a pause. I like to consider for a comment before I respond. It drives people crazy. More often than not they figure a cell phone has dropped the call.

There is an old sale’s saw that says “She who speaks first, loses.” I just did a Google search on the masculine version of this saying “He who speaks first, loses” and got 11.4 million results. As I said, this is an old saw that is widely practiced and amazingly effective. This comes into play in every negotiation. You can think of this two ways. The first is you create power for yourself by embracing the uncomfortable silence. Conversely you can think that you minimize your negotiating power if you prevent the other person from responding to your offer or counteroffer. Either perspective works because the likelihood of receiving a concession increases greatly if the other person responds first.

Consider this conversation between a hiring manager and a candidate:

Hiring Manager: Congratulations, the job is yours! The starting salary is $40,000 and you get two weeks vacation. The offer letter will spell out all the benefits.

Candidate: Thank you for the offer. I’m a little surprised about the salary though. Based on my research I would have expected it to be in the $50,000 range.

Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic, Tic………Tic, Tic, Tic

Candidate: Salary.com shows the median salary at $48,000 and I have so much experience. Combined I don’t believe $40,000 to be a good offer.

The candidate just lost some power when she spoke after the silence. The silence is important for a few reasons. The hiring manager needs to consider your comments. Remember, rarely is an initial job offer made at the maximum salary budgeted. The hiring manager most likely will have the authority to increase the salary during the meeting. S/he may make a big production of it but there should be some money already approved. So, during the silence the hiring manager is probably figuring out:

How serious are you
How much of the available money to offer
How much of a show to give you for any additional offer

Think of this quiet time as the equivalent to the car salesperson who leaves you to check with the manager. Oh, she said she has to run through the numbers and yada, yada but the reality is she is giving you to time to squirm. She is giving you time to think that you may never get a better deal so you better jump on whatever offer she just gave you.

How do you master “She who speaks first, loses”? Practice. Practice it with friends when they know that is what you are doing. Ask them to play a hiring manager and not to respond to you for 2 minutes. See if either of you can be quiet for that long.

Practice it when people don’t know what you are doing. When people ask you a question count to five before you answer. Ask people questions that you know will take them a moment to respond and give them the time to respond.

Practice by yourself. Sit at home in total silence and do nothing but think. Don’t read, don’t get on the computer, and don’t pick up the phone. Try sitting there silently for five minutes but don’t time it. When you think the five minutes are up…go look at the time. It probably is closer to 1 minute than 5 minutes. Work you way up to five minutes.

When you master this important tactic in negotiating it will give you the air of calm confidence. A confidence that will scream “I know what I’m worth and what the job should pay and I will accept nothing less.”

Good luck and enjoy the silence.